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Tag: Nature

July 25 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
Free

Mellody Farm Nature Preserve – Lake Forest Open Lands

350 N. Waukegan Rd
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045 + Google Map
View Venue Website

Nature Book Club: July

Please note: This month we’re meeting at Mellody Farm Nature Preserve, not Brushwood Center.

The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a space to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and/or art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.  

This summer, we’re revisiting some of the classics of American nature literature and exploring how they resonate today. 

Our July book is A Sand County Almanac: Sketches Here and There, by Aldo Leopold. Through science, history, humor and prose, Leopold uses A Sand County Almanac and its call for a land ethic to communicate the true connection between people and the natural world. First published in 1949, it became one of the most venerated conservation books in the 20th century.

REGISTER

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A child outside, next to a spinning wheel of prizes

June 13 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Kids Rank

View Organizer Website

Veteran Art Tribe

View Organizer Website

Blue Star Families

View Organizer Website

Independence Grove, North Bay Pavillion

16400 Buckley Rd
Libertyville, IL 60076 + Google Map

Military Kids Fest

Celebrate Summer with Brushwood Center’s At Ease initiative and enjoy art, music, activities, games, and nature with other members of the Military Community! In collaboration with Kids Rank, Veteran Art Tribe and other Veteran organizations. Brushwood’s third annual Military Kids Fest offers nature, art, exploration, and fun.

Join us for:

Activities

  • Nature Acrylic Painting with Veteran Art Tribe
  • Face Painting by Kirsten Saunders
  • Children’s Yoga with Christine Lopez
  • Outdoor games
  • Snacks
  • Art activities
  • More!

Resources and Information

Information and Tables by:

  • American Legion Gurnee Auxiliary
  • Brushwood Center
  • Kids Rank
  • National Museum of the American Sailor

Please note, that this event is designed for Veterans, current service members, and their families.

Contact Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org if you have questions or concerns.

Register here

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June 21 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Reciprocal Forest Bathing

View Organizer Website

Waukegan, IL

Waukegan, Illinois + Google Map

Celestial Nature and Forest Therapy: Summer Solstice

Forest bathing is a guided experience that works to mend the relationships humans have with themselves, the concept of time, their communities, and their environment. It is a practice focused on remembering reciprocity by connecting to our senses through the natural world.

Join Jess Rodriguez, certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide, for a two-hour practice filled with a series of guided invitations that offer opportunities of presence, stress relief, and relaxation. 

During this time, participants can expect to walk slowly for less than a mile with plenty of opportunities to stop and simply notice the world around them. Forest bathing is an adaptable and flexible practice that welcomes people of all abilities. For more information visit reciprocalforestbathing.com

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For the safety of our community, the exact location of the forest bathing experience will be disclosed upon registration and is subject to change in the case of a community safety concern. Registrants will receive a reminder email one week and 24 hours before the walk to be notified of any changes. 

REGISTER HERE

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July 14 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Virtual

At Ease Book Club: Blast Radius, by Doug Self

As Veterans and military community members, we will explore Iraq War veteran Doug Self’s poetry and how his experience impacts the author, ourselves, and our community. 

Blast Radius explores the lasting impact of war, both on the battlefield and at home, through the eyes of combatants and their families.

This event is virtual; a Zoom link will be sent to those who register. If you have any technical needs, please email Jes Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Review of Blast Radius

“A poetry collection that is both visceral and vulnerable, Blast Radius tackles the complexity of serving in the military and questions whether anyone can return “… home / safe and sound.” Douglas E. Self employs psychological twists and raw physicality to shed light on the battleelds we carry within. A surprise at every turn, these musical lines will knock the wind out of you, in the way only a skilled poet can.” -Tina Parker, author of Lock Her Up

About the Author

Douglas Self is a father, poet, and a veteran of the USMC, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Iraq War who considers both Chicago, IL and Lexington, KY home. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a trade school certificate in audio and video engineering from the Lexington School for the Recording Arts. Through his art, he hopes to show other military and combat veterans that healing is possible.

Questions? Please contact Veterans Program Specialist, Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Register here

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July 7 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Virtual

At Ease Book Club: Blast Radius, by Doug Self

As Veterans and military community members, we will explore Iraq War veteran Doug Self’s poetry and how his experience impacts the author, ourselves, and our community. 

Blast Radius explores the lasting impact of war, both on the battlefield and at home, through the eyes of combatants and their families.

This event is virtual; a Zoom link will be sent to those who register. If you have any technical needs, please email Jes Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Review of Blast Radius

“A poetry collection that is both visceral and vulnerable, Blast Radius tackles the complexity of serving in the military and questions whether anyone can return “… home / safe and sound.” Douglas E. Self employs psychological twists and raw physicality to shed light on the battleelds we carry within. A surprise at every turn, these musical lines will knock the wind out of you, in the way only a skilled poet can.” -Tina Parker, author of Lock Her Up

About the Author

Douglas Self is a father, poet, and a veteran of the USMC, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Iraq War who considers both Chicago, IL and Lexington, KY home. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a trade school certificate in audio and video engineering from the Lexington School for the Recording Arts. Through his art, he hopes to show other military and combat veterans that healing is possible.

Questions? Please contact Veterans Program Specialist, Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org.

Register here

Related Events

healing Together

The Artwork of TIERRA

By Jess Rodriguez

Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance (TIERRA) is the nature-based mental health intervention that was co-developed by Brushwood Center and DePaul University in collaboration with Highwood Library & Community Center, Roberti Community House, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, Family First Center, and The HAP Foundation. Community Health Workers and Clinicians from these organizations have facilitated TIERRA to over 85 participants in Lake County from 2024-2025 and while we have received much feedback about the program, the most common piece of feedback we’ve received is that the participants want more TIERRA. 

Healing Together, the Artwork of TIERRA Three hand-painted milagros hearts

During TIERRA, participants were able to dive into themselves and remember who it is they truly are. In talking to participants, I could see that – without having even known them before-  a shift was happening. The tides were changing. What once may have been muddy waters were now clear calm waves reflecting the infinite blue of the sky. The possibilities of their world have broadened.

What each individual could see of themselves and for themselves matched that of what they noticed in nature: abundance, love, gratitude, beauty, peace, transformation. The participants of TIERRA saw nature reflect themselves, in every form and facet. The participants of TIERRA have done something remarkable, they cleared the muddy waters. They walked through the labyrinth of life, they journeyed inward, expanded, and journeyed back outward, expanding. They have rediscovered who they are and without fail, they have rediscovered the iridescent web of interconnectedness.

Which is why they asked for more TIERRA, I knew they were not asking for a second intervention per say but rather they craved more opportunities to spin with the web. 

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA is an opportunity for the facilitators and participants of the program to move with that creative energy that they built up throughout the program and showcase their reflections through painting and other works of art. It has been an honor to collaborate with Nydia Gonzalez-Carson on these art workshops to offer facilitators and participants of TIERRA this moment, and hopefully create a ripple effect for more moments of grounding in the creative energy of nature for community healing.

RSVP to the Opening reception on April 12

May 31 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Reciprocal Forest Bathing

View Organizer Website

Riverwoods, IL

Celestial Nature and Forest Therapy: May Blue Moon

Forest bathing is a guided experience that works to mend the relationships humans have with themselves, the concept of time, their communities, and their environment. It is a practice focused on remembering reciprocity by connecting to our senses through the natural world.

Join Jess Rodriguez, certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide, for a two-hour practice filled with a series of guided invitations that offer opportunities of presence, stress relief, and relaxation. 

During this time, participants can expect to walk slowly for less than a mile with plenty of opportunities to stop and simply notice the world around them. Forest bathing is an adaptable and flexible practice that welcomes people of all abilities. For more information visit reciprocalforestbathing.com

—

For the safety of our community, the exact location of the forest bathing experience will be disclosed upon registration and is subject to change in the case of a community safety concern. Registrants will receive a reminder email one week and 24 hours before the walk to be notified of any changes. 

REGISTER HERE

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A large gnarled oak tree
Image: 400-year-old Live Oak at the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans. Photo by Ashley Cullen-Williams

April 19 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Radical Hope in the Woods

Radical Hope in the Woods is a restorative, community-centered experience designed to reconnect the Black community to the land, to one another, and to the wisdom carried in our bodies and stories. Held on the sacred grounds of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, this gathering invites participants to slow down, breathe deeply, and remember that healing is both personal and collective.

We will begin with a guided walk and talk through the forest—an intentional experience that blends reflection, folklore, storytelling, and connection. As we move along the trails, we’ll explore themes of radical hope, resilience, and belonging, grounding ourselves in nature while honoring the histories and experiences of our ancestors. This is not a hike for distance, but a journey inward and together.

Following our time in the woods, we will gather for a family-style Sunday dinner—a shared meal rooted in care, nourishment, and community.

Come as you are. Leave grounded, connected, full, and reminded that radical hope can be cultivated together with the outdoors. 

register

Radical Hope in the Woods is supported by Healing Illinois. Healing Illinois is a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Field Foundation of Illinois.

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April 12 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Opening Reception: Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Schedule

1:00 pm – Exhibition Opens – Refreshments Available

1:30 pm – Artist Panel

3:00 pm – End of Reception

RSVP TO THE OPENING RECEPTION

Related Events

April 12 @ 1:00 pm – May 3 @ 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Learn more about the exhibition

Related Events

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